# faster-whisper

Framework · https://godooo.ai/en/framework/faster-whisper

> faster-whisper is an open-source AI framework, launched in 2023, made for developers.

A faster reimplementation of Whisper on the CTranslate2 engine, for transcription.

Main jobs: Speech to text. It is open source and free to use. You can use it on your own server, offline on your own machine, in the terminal and through an API.

## At a glance

- **Type:** [Framework](https://godooo.ai/en/browse#framework)
- **Launched:** 2023
- **Galaxy:** [Voice & Music](https://godooo.ai/en/galaxy/audio)
- **Open source:** Yes · MIT
- **Source code:** [github.com/SYSTRAN/faster-whisper](https://github.com/SYSTRAN/faster-whisper)
- **GitHub stars:** 25,547
- **How you run it:** Self-host · Runs offline · Terminal · API
- **Made for:** Developers
- **Website:** [github.com](https://github.com/SYSTRAN/faster-whisper)

## What it can do

- **[Speech to text](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/speech-to-text)** — main job, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “Faster Whisper transcription with CTranslate2 faster-whisper is a reimplementation of OpenAI's Whisper model using CTranslate2, which is a fast inference engine for Transformer models.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/SYSTRAN/faster-whisper), 2026-09-24)

## Alternatives

- **[Descript](https://godooo.ai/en/product/descript)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Speech to text; no code needed
- **[Whisper](https://godooo.ai/en/model/whisper)** (Open source, free): Also does: Speech to text
- **[Otter.ai](https://godooo.ai/en/product/otter)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Speech to text; no code needed
- **[whisper.cpp](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/whisper-cpp)** (Open source, free): Also does: Speech to text
- **[WhisperX](https://godooo.ai/en/cli/whisperx)** (Open source, free): Also does: Speech to text
- **[Fireflies.ai](https://godooo.ai/en/product/fireflies)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Speech to text; no code needed
- **[ElevenLabs](https://godooo.ai/en/product/elevenlabs)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Speech to text; no code needed
- **[CapCut 剪映](https://godooo.ai/en/product/capcut)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Speech to text; no code needed
- **[MarkItDown](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/markitdown)** (Open source, free): Also does: Speech to text
- **[Mistral](https://godooo.ai/en/model/mistral)** (Open source, free): Also does: Speech to text
- **[Adobe Podcast](https://godooo.ai/en/product/adobe-podcast)** (Free plan + paid upgrades): Also does: Speech to text; no code needed
- **[Docling](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/docling)** (Open source, free): Also does: Speech to text

## Connections

- **Based on:** [Whisper](https://godooo.ai/en/model/whisper)

## Questions

### What is faster-whisper?

faster-whisper is an open-source AI framework, launched in 2023, made for developers. A faster reimplementation of Whisper on the CTranslate2 engine, for transcription.

### Is faster-whisper free?

Yes. faster-whisper is open source (MIT) and free to use.

### Is faster-whisper open source?

Yes, under the MIT license. The source code is at https://github.com/SYSTRAN/faster-whisper.

### Can faster-whisper run locally?

Yes. faster-whisper can run offline on your own machine. It can also be self-hosted on your own server.

### What can faster-whisper do?

Main jobs: Speech to text.

### What are open-source alternatives to faster-whisper?

Open-source ones: Whisper, whisper.cpp, WhisperX, MarkItDown, Mistral and Docling. Others: Descript, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, ElevenLabs, CapCut 剪映 and Adobe Podcast.

## Sources

- [github.com](https://github.com/SYSTRAN/faster-whisper) — checked 2026-09-24

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Last updated 2026-09-24 · sources checked 2026-09-24 · Markdown version of https://godooo.ai/en/framework/faster-whisper. Every page on this site has one: add .md to its address.